On May 8th, NIO and GAC Group reached a strategic cooperation on charging and swapping. The two sides will carry out comprehensive and multi-level deep strategic cooperation in battery standards, swapping technology, Shenchi asset management and operation, swapping service network construction and operation, swapping car type research and development and customization, charging interconnection, and other aspects related to the swapping industry.
It is reported that by the end of this month, both parties can achieve interconnection and interoperability of their respective charging facilities. Users can use their respective brand apps, mini programs, and car charging maps to achieve functions such as querying, navigation, startup, and payment of charging stations.
The industry is not surprised by the cooperation between GAC Group and NIO. After all, since last year, a series of companies such as Changan Automobile, Geely Holdings, Jiangqi Group, Chery Automobile, Wanneng Group, Anhui Traffic Control Group, Nanwang Energy Storage, and Lotus have cooperated with NIO in the field of battery swapping.
With the gradual expansion of NIO's "battery swapping alliance", the battery swapping model has gradually shifted from the role of an "edge person" to the C-position in the energy replenishment industry.
In fact, as early as 2011, State Grid of China had basically established the commercial operation model of electric vehicles, which was mainly based on battery swapping, supplemented by plug-in charging, centralized charging, and unified distribution. However, due to the significantly higher construction cost and difficulty of battery swapping stations compared to charging stations, the overall industry layout speed is very slow. Apart from a few companies such as NIO that continue to deploy, there are few participants, and even the public is not optimistic about NIO's battery swapping model.
However, since the end of last year, the market heat for battery swapping mode has started to heat up. At the National Conference on Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology clearly stated its support for the development of new energy vehicle battery swapping models. Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Capacity Building of Power Grid Peak shaving, Energy Storage and Intelligent Dispatching. This series of policies has further made the industry feel the support and resolute investment of the policy side in the battery swapping business.
Industry insiders have stated that the car manufacturing business in the era of electrification is essentially about energy replenishment. Whoever can bring cost reduction and efficiency improvement to users in energy supplementation, and create differentiated competition for business travel, will be the first to build a moat.
Public data shows that NIO has deployed over 2400 battery swapping stations nationwide, 797 high-speed battery swapping stations on highways nationwide, and built a high-speed battery swapping network in 11 major urban agglomerations, including 7 vertical, 6 horizontal. According to the plan, by 2025, NIO will establish a high-speed power exchange network in 19 major urban clusters, including 9 vertical and 9 horizontal lines. This means that NIO has an inherent advantage in providing users with more convenient and cost-effective ways to supplement energy.
Nowadays, with car companies like GAC joining NIO's battery swapping alliance, NIO's battery swapping model will further pave the way for commercialization.
"Since the first day of battery swapping, NIO has been thinking about opening up, and now the battery swapping service has reached the stage where it can be exported to the outside world." Li Bin, founder and chairman of NIO, said that GAC has a large-scale user base and rich experience in the construction and operation of charging and swapping infrastructure. The cooperation between both parties will further strengthen their respective advantages in technology and operation, promote the standardization of battery swapping standards and operation management systems, and make battery swapping a more mainstream charging mode.
Feng Xingya, General Manager of GAC Group, stated that with the increase in the number of new energy vehicles in the future, there is an infinite market for battery swapping modes in urban scenarios. The battery swapping mode actually solves the user pain point caused by the low proportion of private parking spaces.
In fact, the fundamental logic of battery swapping is to separate the battery from the vehicle, which can not only lower the threshold for users to purchase a car, but also enable real-time detection of the battery during the battery swapping process, further ensuring battery safety.
From the perspective of sustainable development, battery swapping can to some extent reduce the consumption of scarce resources. Industry insiders have revealed that battery swapping can extend battery life through scientific management, maximize the value of each power battery, and reduce the consumption of metal resources such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt. The current battery swapping alliance with NIO as its core has further deepened the concept of recyclability and sustainability in the automotive industry. At the same time, forming alliances between enterprises is also conducive to breaking down technological barriers and further promoting the progress of new energy vehicles.